This study investigates the psychological effects of social identity on both posters and lurkers

Purpose This paper aims to investigate customers' motives to engage with electronic word of mouth (eWOM), as well as the effect of eWOM on customer behavior, both at the purchase and post-purchase stages. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was adopted, consisting of 30 semi-structured interviews with Thai consumers. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings Information validation, product evaluation, purchase and post-purchase validation are key motives for consumers to search for eWOM. Furthermore, eWOM quantity, eWOM credibility and attitudes toward eWOM play a critical role in evaluation of information usefulness and adoption. Moreover, five different types of shoppers were identified according to their purchase behavior after adapting eWOM: prompt shoppers, in-store shoppers, promotion shoppers, conservative shoppers and remedy shoppers. Originality/value While the implications of the adoption of eWOM have been explored in previous research, there is limited understanding in terms of the impacts of eWOM on the customer journey. This study addresses this research gap by investigating not only customers' motives to engage with eWOM but also its effect on their behavior at the purchase and post-purchase stages.

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Purpose Policymakers push online health services delivery, relying on consumers to independently engage with online services. Yet, a growing cluster of vulnerable patients do not engage with or disengage from these innovative services. There is a need to understand how to resolve the tension between the push of online health service provision and unengagement by a contingent of health-care consumers. Thus, this study aims to explore the issue of digital unengagement (DU) (i.e. the active or passive choice to engage or disengage) with online health services to better inform service design aligned to actual consumer need. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a survey methodology, a group of 486 health services consumers with a self-declared (acute or chronic) condition were identified. Of this group, 110 consumers were classified as digitally unengaged and invited to write open-ended narratives about their unengagement with online health services. As a robustness check, these drivers were contrasted with the drivers identified by a group of digitally engaged consumers with a self-declared condition (n = 376). Findings DU is conceptualized, and four levels of DU drivers are identified. These levels represent families of interrelated drivers that in combination shape DU: subjective incompatibility (misalignment of online services with need, lifestyle and alternative services); enactment vulnerability (personal vulnerabilities around control, comprehension and emotional management of online services); sharing essentiality (centrality of face-to-face co-creation opportunities plus conflicting social dependencies); and strategic scepticism (scepticism of the strategic value of online services). Identified challenges at each level are the mechanisms through which drivers impact on DU. These DU drivers are distinct from those of the digitally engaged group. Research limitations/implications Adding to a nascent but growing literature on consumer unengagement, and complementing the engagement literature, the authors conceptualize DU, positioning it as distinct from, not simply a lack of, consumer engagement. The authors explore the drivers of DU to provide insight into how DU occurs. Encapsulating the dynamic nature of DU, these drivers map the building blocks that could help to address the issue of aligning the push of online service provision with the pull from consumers. Practical implications This paper offers insights on how to encourage consumers to engage with online health services by uncovering the drivers of DU that, typically, are hidden from service designers and providers impacting provision and uptake. Social implications There is a concern that there will be an unintentional disenfranchisement of vulnerable segments of society with a generic policy emphasis on pushing online services. The paper sheds light on the unforeseen personal and social issues that lead to disenfranchisement by giving voice to digitally unengaged consumers with online health services. Originality/value Offering a novel view from a hard-to-reach digitally unengaged group, the conceptualization of DU, identified drivers and challenges inform policymakers and practitioners on how to facilitate online health service (re)engagement and prevent marginalization of segments of society.

Research has shown that any individual consumer, regardless of membership in any particular class, may experience vulnerability in the marketplace. While studies have identified core determinants of customer vulnerability states and perceptions and outlined their impact on consumers and firms, there is little research on how channel design, as part of service design strategies, can be employed to alleviate or prevent states and perceptions of vulnerability. This study extends the current literature on customer vulnerability by developing a framework that delineates determinants and consequences of vulnerability that manifest in problems of accessing or processing resources. We outline three relevant channel design strategies that service providers might employ to alleviate vulnerability: (1) flexibility through multiple multichannel paths, (2) guidance through constrained channel paths and (3) proactive initiation of interactions. Additionally, we propose a future research agenda and offer recommendations for managerial practice regarding how to identify customer vulnerability and employ countermeasures.